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Terran Confederacy
The Terran Confederacy was an interstellar confederacy set by the Terrans of the Koprulu Sector. The home planet of the Confederacy was the colony of Tarsonis. History Doran Routhe of the United Powers League of Earth organized a colonization project in order to further his own power. He loaded 40,000 prisoners on four supercarriers, sending them to the planet Gantris VI. The lead ship, the Nagglfar, housed an advanced AI called ATLAS, which studied the passengers' genetics. The Nagglfar housed navigation systems, with the other three ships following it. During the journey, the guidance computer failed, and the four ships barreled blindly through warp space for twenty eight years. As their warp drives began to melt down, they emerged in a habitable star system. The Nagglfar landed on the world of Tarsonis. The colonists enjoyed a technological advantage over the people of the other two original colony worlds, Moria and Umoja, due to the artificial intelligence ATLAS. ATLAS contained much technological information from Earth. Even so, it took the Tarsonis colonists sixty years to build second generation subwarp engines and explore the rest of the system, discovering the other two colonies. Tarsonis attempted to convince the other two colonies to join in a conglomerate government (they refused) even as its prospectors helped to create seven new colonies within the system, which greatly enhanced its military power. Tarsonis and its colonies formed an interstellar government which they called the Terran Confederacy. The government of the Confederacy came to be dominated by the "Old Families", descendents of the commanders of the Nagglfar (according to StarCraft: Queen of Blades). The government also included a senate, which was considered corrupt by many of its colonies. The Guild Wars The Confederacy came into conflict with Moria as the Morian government believed the Confederates would try to "regulate" it's rich mining industry. The Morians founded the Kel-Morian Combine in order to protect itself. The tensions broke into open war, which lasted four years and ended about a decade before the beginning of StarCraft. The Guild Wars, as the conflict was called, resulted in bitter defeat for the Kel-Morian Combine. The Confederates annexed the Combine's supporting guilds, but allowed the Morians to maintain their independence. As a result of this war, Umoja formed its own military body, the Umojan Protectorate, in order to defend itself from the Confederacy. Since the defeat, Moria has founded new mining colonies and provided the Terran Confederacy with so much money that they are effectively immune to Confederate laws. Meanwhile, Confederates prospectors founded many new colonies and Confederate enforcement agencies abused the colonists, causing many rebel groups, such as the Colonial Liberation Army, to rise up against the Confederates, but they were rarely any match for the Confederate forces. Rebellion of Korhal Korhal IV, one of the oldest Terran Confederacy colonies, was a world of affluence. It's people, however, resented their affiliation with the corrupt Confederate senators. The citizenry revolted against the local Confederate militia. The Confederates imposed martial law, but the revolt continued. Angus Mengsk, a Korhalian senator, came to lead the revolt. The Confederates decided to withdraw their military from the planet, while three covert assassins called Ghosts slew Angus Mengsk, his wife and youngest child. Angus Mengsk's head was never found. This did much to weaken the revolt. Arcturus Mengsk, Angus' son, a former Confederate Colonel and prospector, was embarrassed by his father's actions, and while aware of Confederate corruption, was generally uninterested in Koprulu Sector politics. However, he was outraged by the death of his family and returned to Korhal to continue the rebellion. He rallied the militant groups that had followed his father and created an army which struck at various Confederate bases and installations. When he was gone to visit Umoja, an important rival of the Terran Confederacy, the Confederates fired a thousand Apocalypse-class nuclear missiles at Korhal, wiping out all life on the surface. Beginning of the End Arcturus Mengsk named the remnants of his rebels the Sons of Korhal, and again began to strike at the Confederates. During his raids, he discovered Sarah Kerrigan and xenomorphs at Vyctor 5, where experiments were being conducted on Ghosts. At the time, these xenomorphs seemed insignificant. His forces were largely ignored by the Confederate-controlled media until he launched a daring attack against the Confederate Ghost Academy on Tarsonis. After this incident, the Confederates declared the Sons of Khorhal to be outlaws and relentlessly hunted them down. Rebellious colonies, however, often secretly allied with them. Confederate experiments with these xenomorphs continued, often getting out of control. One such test area was Chau Sara, an important colony and headquarters of Alpha Squadron. The Squadron was recalled when the Sons of Korhal invaded the world, and were posing too much of a threat to the local militia. Alpha Squadron defeated the Sons of Korhal, but encountered these xenomorphs and Cerberus Recon Squad during the battle. The creatures were the subject of high-level research, but had taken over the Flannum Installation where they were being studied and had surrounded it. Cerberus Recon Squad and Alpha Squadron defeated the xenomorphs and entered the facility. Inside, they discovered evidence that the xenomorphs may have been more intelligent than previously believed (they were holding the scientists prisoner, an ironic turn of events). Nonetheless, the xenomorphs were defeated. The xenomorphs besieged the capital city of Los Andares, forcing Alpha Squadron to come to the rescue. Once again the xenomorphs were defeated. The Colonial Magistrate believed that establishing a tight perimeter around the city would further protect it, but Cerberus Recon Squad preferred to attack their primary Hive Clusters instead, and forced Alpha Squadron to cooperate with them. After defeating the xenomorphs, Cerberus Recon Squad ordered all witnesses to the battles not to inform anyone else of what had happened. The Squad then departed the planet, followed shortly thereafter by Alpha Squadron, a month before the start of the game StarCraft. End of Hegemony Left to its own devices and unable to call for reinforcements or even warn the other Terrans, Chau Sara could not defend itself from the xenomorphs. They infested and killed virtually all of the Terrans on the planet. At this time, Executor Tassadar and his Protoss Expeditionary Fleet searched for the xenomorphs, which they had independently discovered. Discovering the infected planet, his fleet sterilized its surface of life. The Terrans were shocked. This was their first public contact with alien lifeforms. Shortly thereafter, the existence of the xenomorphs, now called Zerg, was made public. They had infested the nearby planet of Mar Sara. The Protoss fleet also arrived at the planet, but retreated after a clumsy Confederate counterattack. Due to the poor tactics of Alpha Squadron, Mar Sara was lost to the Zerg. The Confederates did not even attempt to rescue the colonists - this task fell to the Sons of Korhal. In a last-minute raid, the Sons of Korhal raided the Jacobs Installation and acquired plans for a piece of technology which would change the course of the civil war - the psi-emitter. The terrorists seemed to have little idea of what they had acquired - the data discs containing the plans were encrypted. During the raid they had also discovered Zerg being held captive in the installation. Tassadar's fleet arrived, several hours after the evacuation, and sterilized the surface of the planet. The Changing Face of War The Confederate colony of Antiga Prime rebelled against the Confederates. Alpha Squadron was sent to lock it down, while the Sons of Korhal assisted the Antigans. The Sons of Korhal defeated Alpha Squadron for the first time in open battle. The Confederates panicked, but could not immediately respond due to conflict with Zerg, which had appeared and attacked the world. The Zerg shot down the Norad II, command ship of General Edmund Duke of Alpha Squadron. The Sons of Korhal decided to rescue him, as an excuse to recruit him to their cause. Arcturus Mengsk convinced General Duke that the Confederacy was failing, and Duke inducted Alpha Squadron into the Sons of Korhal. Alpha Squadron was a small but elite Confederate Squadron, and this act of rebellion shook the Confederacy to its very core. They hastily sent Delta Squadron to recapture the world, despite the presence of the Zerg. The Sons of Korhal planted the psi-emitter in Delta Squadron's base - it used Sarah Kerrigan's psionic energies to lure Zerg to the Confederate army and destroy it. The Zerg swiftly overtook the planet, which the Protoss sterilized shortly afterwards. Crushing Defeat The Confederate government and military could not defeat the forces arrayed against it, and resorted to desperate and heavy-handed media manipulation to control its citizens and swell the ranks of its military in order to fend off the aliens. Flushed with the success of their new weapon, the Sons of Korhal moved against the Confederate capital of Tarsonis. With the help of General Edmund Duke, the Sons of Korhal were able to engage the Confederates long enough to activate psi-emitters, calling a flood of Zerg to the capital. The Sons of Korhal tried to weaken the Confederate war factories first, in order to prevent a strong counterattack against the Zerg. The Confederates were unable to utilize their hidden anti-Zerg weapon, the Psi Disrupter. The Protoss fleet arrived, once again, to sterilize a world. However, there were still Confederates alive on the surface, and if the Protoss destroyed the Zerg, the Confederates could escape. Arcturus Mengsk decided to defend the Zerg against the Protoss until the Zerg could destroy the Confederates. The Sons of Korhal were successful in their mission. The remnants of the Confederates found themselves battling Zerg and Protoss on the surface of the world. Eventually the Zerg were victorious against both these forces, but abandoned the world. The Remnants The Confederacy was succeeded by the Terran Dominion, the name of the empire founded by the Sons of Korhal. Much of the remnants of the Confederacy joined the Dominion, willingly or otherwise. However, pockets of Confederate resistance remain. One such pocket, calling itself the Confederate Resistance Forces, joined forces with the United Earth Directorate during the Brood War, but its current fate is unknown. More Confederates were observed researching Zerg, Protoss and advanced technology by the Kimeran Pirates. They appeared to be working with the formerly deceased Vice Admiral Stukov, who was obviously infested. The facility was destroyed by Stukov's forces, however. Confederacy Government The Terran Confederacy government consisted of a Senate and a Council (the latter referred to in StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade and StarCraft Ghost: Nova). The former had representatives from a number of worlds (Angus Mengsk of Korhal was a Confederate senator). The Senate was generally viewed as corrupt, but so was the Council. The latter is noted for having no mandate from the people. Vague references to "Confederate High Command" were made in StarCraft: Loomings by Cerberus Recon Squad. The Old Families Another powerful body within the Confederacy power structure were the rich and powerful "Old Families", the descendants of the commanders of the Nagglfar. Famous Old Families included the Calabas and Kusinis families, along with the Dukes, Terras and Tygores. They are distinguished by their accent (which sounds like a southern United States accent). The Old Families maintained businesses and had representation on multiple worlds. They were largely immune to all but the most important laws and knew the secrets of the Council (indeed, many Council members belonged to the Old Families). Many members of the Old Families married members of other families in order to forge a stronger genetic and financial union. As these weren't love matches, both parents generally had mistresses and "jigs" and offspring were produced through artificial insemination. Gender roles were strictly split; for instance, the wife would be the "head of the household" while the husband would be in charge of security. The Old Families were largely wiped out by the destruction of Tarsonis. Former members of the Old Families: *Edmund Duke, and his elder relative Garth Duke. *Esmerelda Ndoci (through marriage) *Constantino Terra and his daughter, November Terra *Andrea Tygore, matriarch of her clan, and Emmett Tygore, a serial killer undergoing "rehabilitation" Confederate Planets The capitol world of the Confederacy is Tarsonis, and the next four most important worlds are Brontes, Chau Sara, Dylar IV and Tyrador IX. Other colonies include Antiga Prime, Halcyon, Mar Sara, Pridewater, Tyrador VIII, Ursa and Vyctor 5, some of which are in the belt of Fringe Worlds. The Confederacy was listed as occupying about twelve worlds in the manual (and at the beginning of StarCraft Episode II), but the number has expanded due to Maps of the Month and various novels. Confederacy Squadrons The StarCraft games and books feature a number of military wings called Squadrons, which are originally placed under the authority of the Confederacy command but enjoy a great autonomy. After the fall of the Confederacy, some of these Squadrons was absorbed into the Terran Dominion. 22nd Confederate Marines Division, aka the Annihilators :Main article: Annihilators This small special forces group had the highest termination rate against the Zerg during the war between the Confederacy and the Zerg. It is led by Major Esmerelda Ndoci, who is probably a psychopath. It is featured in StarCraft Ghost: Nova. Alpha Squadron :Main article: Alpha Squadron Alpha Squadron was one of the most elite military squadrons in the Confederacy. Formerly based on Chau Sara, they were a first-in/first-out strike force, hence their name. Cerberus Recon Squad :Main article: Cerberus Recon Squad Cerberus Recon Squad was a black ops force which investigated "xenomorph" activity on Chau Sara during the StarCraft prequel. Delta Squadron Delta Squadron was a regular Confederate military unit. Little information is given about this Squadron in the StarCraft game, but it appears to be larger than Alpha Squadron. According to General Edmund Duke, it is less professional than Alpha Squadron. Delta Squadron was involved in major battles against the Sons of Korhal on Antiga Prime and Tarsonis and was defeated in both encounters. It is associated with the orange color. Epsilon Squadron Epsilon Squadron is not well described in the StarCraft manual. It operated a surveillance network of Science Vessels at the borders of the Terran Confederacy. Its game color is yellow, and its current status is unknown. Gamma Squadron Little information is given about Gamma Squadron in StarCraft, and is only known from a Marine detachment in StarCraft: Uprising and a web page at the Blizzard Entertainment web site (by holding the mouse over the SCV, Marine and Valkyrie, you may see the confirmation of the information). The Squadron had Marines, SCVs and Valkyrie Frigates. The Valkyrie was introduced to the Koprulu Sector by the United Earth Directorate. This suggests that the squadron survived contact with the Terran Dominion and was probably absorbed into that organization. Its color is unknown. Nova Squadron :Main article: Nova Squadron Nova Squadron was numerically inferior to other wings of the Terran Confederacy forces, but its units are well-trained, much like those of the Alpha Squadron. Its main purpose was to spy on other organizations, including other Terran Confederacy Squadrons. The Squadron's leader is Colonel Jackson Hauler and its game color is purple. It was set to play a major role in StarCraft: Ghost. Omega Squadron thumb|Logo of Omega Squadron Omega Squadron, originally based at Dylar IV, was less professional than Alpha Squadron, according to General Edmund Duke. It consists mainly of "neurally resocialized" people, who are often mentally unstable criminals. While not professional, these soldiers are among the Conferacy's toughest (and most destructive) soldiers, and are only released in a desperate scenario. It is/was commanded by Lt. Commander Gregory Reikson. Omega Squadron was involved in major battles against the Sons of Korhal at Tarsonis and also faced down the Zerg later on the surface (losing both times). At least some members, such as First Sergeant Gui Montag, are members of the Terran Dominion, suggesting a few left or actually surrendered despite their neural treatments. Omega Squadron is now rumored to be a part of Nova Squadron, which submitted to the Terran Dominion (as Nova Squadron commander Colonel Jackson Hauler wears the Omega patch). Marines wearing Terran Dominion red with Omega Squadron insignias were observed in a StarCraft: Ghost trailer as well. The manual states that Omega Squadron's color is black, but its game color is brown. Former Confederacy members * General Edmund Duke, leader of Alpha Squadron * Lieutenant Samir Duran, commando * Colonel Jackson Hauler, leader of Nova Squadron * Malcolm "Mal" Kelerchian, Ghost Program Wrangler * Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan, Ghost operative * Marshal Jim Raynor, Mar Sara colonist References * Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. * StarCraft homepage at Blizzard Entertainment * Battle.net StarCraft Compendium * Nova Station - provides information about the Nova Squadron. * Information on Gamma Squadron - hold the mouse cursor over the SCV, Marine, and Valkyrie Category:Organizations Category:Terrans